Great show ! I don't normally pay much attention to the SdJ but it was interesting to have the games under the spotlight and to have an explanation of how the judges make their decision (It's always seemed so random).
Now I understand the criteria I can understand why some games I really like didn't make the grade.
Remind me never to take betting tips from either of you.
btw The dice mechanic in Yspahan sounds kinda similar to War of the Ring, so maybe not as new as some may think.
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We don't stop playing games when we get old...... We get old when we stop playing games

Hmmm. No, I don't think Yspahan is really much like War Of The Ring, really.
In Yspahan, you are putting the dice on what amounts to ladder rungs. Lowest dice goes on the lowest rung, highest dice goes on the highest rung, and you fill in the middle from the bottom up. Unless you roll a 1,2,3,4,5, and 6 there will be an empty rung.
As an aside, though... War of the Ring.... man, is that a GREAT game, and the action dice are awesome.
DC

My comparison of Yspahan with War of the Ring was only really when looking at new game mechanics.
To me the creativity is saying "let's not just use dice in the traditional old way but find some creative ideas for how they affect game play".
At its core, the mechanic is simply that the dice dictate what actions are going to be available this turn and how many of such actions there will be. I agree that the implementation is different in both games, however, I consider the underlying idea as the same.
Not sure about the effect on gameplay as I've never played Yspahan. But we are in violent agreement that War of the Ring ROCKS !
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We don't stop playing games when we get old...... We get old when we stop playing games

Thanks for the kudos. If for no other reason than to bring some added attention to these very worthy five games, I think it was a successful experiment.

Dang it, now I want to break out War of the Ring. Curse you two!

We're going to try a six player game of Twilight Imperium over our Summer vacation, I think. I vowed never to play that game again after I had several really bad (and interminably long) experiences with the older edition and rules.

Dave promised some good Tequila to get me to the table, so that might do the trick. :)

I think it's kinda funny how we somehow bounced from 5 SdJ nominees straight into War Of The Ring. As Dave would say, "ultra-ultra-cool!".
Seriously, WotR is such a good game. It's the best narrative wargame that I own. So much of the card play is driven by story elements, and there are so many paths to victory, all of which (re)tell a story of their own. I saw that they are doing a Collector's Edition with hard-bound rules, a bigger map(!) and pre-painted minis and I just about passed out. That might have been the $250 or whatever pricetag that made me pass out, though....
Steerpike - okay, based on your last post, I see what you are saying now about the dice. Good thinking!
TI3 is game that I have to say is not a favorite. I have tried it many times, and in theory it should be good, but somehow it just doesn't click. I've heard the expansion fixes a lot of the things I didn't like about it (like turtling) so hopefully that should make it a better game. Good luck!
DC

Awesome show. Good job scrambling to put this one together, and it was great that Time Well Spent, Rio Grande, and Queen were so helpful on such short notice.
While your predictions were off, Jenseits von Theben certainly sounded like the most unique from your discussion, hence the reason it was your SdJ prediction. It is the one I am looking forward too.
I hope you do another SdJ show next year.